His Eyes
by Serpico1986
Summary: Roger lost his sight
1. Chapter 1

**Here my new story over RENT, since i disliked the last one, i decided to start this one, in order to make something more true to the characters.**

 **The story bellow, takes place a few months after the ending of the movie/play, till an incident change the bohemian family forever.**

 **Hope you like the story.**

 **Serpico.**

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DSCWIN, Renthead621 and Iswearangelwas there, thank you very much for the help.

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 **HIS EYES - Part 1**

To anyone who believed in such things, Roger Davis would most certainly be deemed cursed. It seemed like whenever something good happened to him, tragedy would strike and make him fall deeper into depression. His friends have tried to convince him that everything happens for a reason. But Roger wasn't buying it. He believed there was a dark cloud following him around.

 **_/_**

He tried to think of his life before everything fell apart. Before a fire took his father away before his 12th birthday. Before his mother married a drunk when he was 13. Before he joined a band and became the hottest band in the Village. Before April and the drugs. Before his girlfriend left him a note telling him that they had contracted HIV when he found her dead in the bathroom. Before all of it. But everything that came before seemed like nothing more than a dream. Now, all he knew was darkness. No matter how clean he was.

Mimi, on the other hand, was another story. They appeared to save each other and it she was the only bright spot in his life. She taught him how to love again. She was great at giving advice and things were going great. That is, until fate intervened once again. Lucky for him, her face, her bright loving eyes would be ingrained in his memory. It would soon prove to be the most important thing in there.

_/_

It was a few months after Mimi's Christmas Eve miracle recovery. They both found jobs and Mimi was committed to getting clean. She moved in with Roger and Mark at the loft and they even paid their rent on time every month. Much to Benny's surprise. Everything seemed to be shaping up for the young couple. Too much so for Roger's taste. He was always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

He was alone in the loft one day with Mimi at work and Mark off running some errands. He didn't mind being alone. He actually enjoyed it. It gave him time to focus and get ready for work without interruptions. He was drinking his coffee when suddenly he was struck with a terrible headache. It paralyzed him where he stood. Dropping his coffee mug, he fell to the ground hard, unable to brace his fall. His arms refusing to move in front of him. "Sshit." he whimpered in pain, as his knees took most of the impact. He finally got his arms to slowly move to his head before everything went black. He lost consciousness.

 **_/_**

There was no telling how long the former musician lay on the floor when Mimi came home from her shift and found him in the middle of the room. Passed out. She rushed over before shaking him frantically as she called out his name attempting to wake up. "Roger. Roger, come on baby. Wake up." But he didn't move. "Please...Please don't leave me." she looked around trying to figure out what happened. He was wearing his work suit and his broken coffee mug lay on the floor beside him. "Maybe he hit his head." she thought as she shook him again. "Roger, Baby." she called out again before taking a deep breath.

She knew that if she was going to help Roger, she needed to calm down and call someone. She stood up and ran to the telephone to call 911. She picked up the cordless phone and dialed the numbers. She had returned to his side as she spoke to them when Mark came in. Seeing Roger on the floor, he rushed to her side. "What happened?" he asked before kneeling beside her.

"I don't know… I… I found him like this." Mimi whispered holding the phone to her ear. "Yes, I'm… I'm still here. Are they on their way? OK." Mimi asked as she continued to try to wake Roger up. "The paramedics are on their way." she looked over at him.

"It's OK. He's going to be fine. Let me stop this bleeding on his hand before the paramedics arrive." Mimi nodded but stayed on the phone. Mark stood up, going into the kitchen to put a plastic bag on his hand before cleaning his best friends hand.

When the paramedics finally arrived, Mark and MImi were pushed aside so they could work. Their straight to business approach threw them off. Here they were, watching someone they loved being poked and prodded, when all they wanted was to yell at them that he was a person. Not just their patient. They seemed to have no respect for the poor man, as they went about prepping him as quickly as possible to transport him to the nearest medical facility to be treated. It took Mark a second to get the words out, but he had to bring it to their attention that Roger was HIV positive. Only then did they slow down and take special care.

 **_/_**

Once they were at the hospital, Mark phoned the rest of the group telling them what happened and now, two hours later, almost midnight, and everyone was there, waiting impatiently for the news of their friend. Meanwhile, Mimi couldn´t help but stare at the double doors from where they had taken Roger. The man she loved. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she made a silent promise to him that she would be strong and not start using again.

"Did someone tell his family?" Tom Collins asked all of a sudden taking Mimi out of her thoughts.

"I… um." Mimi started looking over at Mark. They had both completely forgotten about Mrs. Davis.

"It's OK, honey. We'll do it later. When we know more." Joanne decided when a female doctor come toward them.

"Family for Roger Davis." she said and Mimi rushed to her, demanding to know how was the man she loved.

"That's um… how is he?'' the latina asked as Mark followed her.

"Are you all his family?" she asked looking around at the group.

"We're as close as he's got. I'm his emergency contact, Mark Cohen'' Mark nodded.

"OK. Well, I'm Dr. Stevens. I'm responsible for Mr. Davis care." she started, taking a deep breath before continuing. "We've done a CT scan and a slew of other tests to determine a neurological cause for Mr. Davis' collapse and so far they have all come back negative."

"That's good, right? He's gonna be OK." Mimi looked up at her. Collins was holding her for comfort. "Can we see him now?" Mimi asked.

"I am afraid it's not that simple.'' Dr. Stevens said as the bohemians looked at her, confused. "His condition is a little more complex."

''What does that mean?'' Joanne looked at the doctor, with a frown.

''We were unaware that Mr. Davis was diabetic as well as HIV positive. When we realized it, we administered insulin, but that caused him to go into cardiac arrest.'' she said, to the shock of those surrounding her.

"Um… what?" Collins asked looking over at her.

"We did manage to revive him and reverse the effects in time, but I'm afraid I don't have good news."

"What are you talking about? Is he alive or not?'' Maureen asked, trying to be calm for Mimi's sake.

"He is alive, but I'm afraid he's slipped into a coma.'' she said shocking the whole group.

Hearing this news, Collins backed up and sat heavily into a chair. Taking his head in his hands, he prayed for their personal guardian Angel, to lead Roger´s steps and bring their friend back to them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here´s the second chapter. I primisse i´m going somewhere, don´t worry.**

 **Now DSCWin, since you didn´t watched the movie, where some explanations, for a better view. First, keep in mind, half the characters, except Mark, Maureen and Joanne, are positives. Second, according to the actors ages, they should be around 25 to 35 year old, except Mimi, who is 19 (20 in the fanfic) Other than that, there´ss a character named Angel, who died in the movie, but her ghost will apear in the story very soon.**

 **And as for the drugs, i suppose Mimi is the only one who use it in the movie, the rest of them are clean and Roger is an ex-junkie.**

 **I hope this explanations help, the rest of it i will do during the story.**

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 **HIS EYES – Part 2**

Two weeks have passed since Roger was brought to the hospital. In those two weeks he had shown no signs of waking up. His friends take turns staying with him so they're not alone. Although Mimi spends most of her time there. She mainly holds his hand and talks to him as if he's awake.

Meanwhile, Joanne, tries reaching Roger's mom but is unable to. Benny offered to pay for the hospital bills, knowing that Roger doesn't have insurance nor the money to pay them himself. Despite everyone's protests, Mark agrees. "Let him do it. I'd rather he pay his hospital bills now than a funeral later." Even though they know that Roger would be pissed, they're looking forward to getting yelled at once he wakes up.

_/_

It was the start of his third week in the hospital when he first started showing signs of coming back around. Letting out a strange moan, Mimi looked up from her magazine and took his hand. "Roger?" she asked looking into his face. She couldn't believe what she heard that she rushed out to find a nurse. But when she came back with the nurse, they found that Roger wasn't responsive.

"Are you sure you didn't imagine it?" the nurse asked as she looked at Roger.

"I'm not sure of anything anymore." Mimi answered running her fingers through her wild, curly hair. She looked down at Roger, who looked the same as he had for nearly 3 weeks. "I guess I must have. I'm sorry." the nurse, heartbroken by the heartbroken woman that stood there with her, gently patted Mimi's shoulder.

"It's OK, Miss Marquez. Just don't give up hope." she smiled softly before leaving the room. Mimi fell to her knees and began to pray harder than ever, for her love to wake up.

 **_/_**

For the next week, the doctors worked on taking him off of the ventilator. His lungs were strong enough, so they removed the tubes that were helping him breathe. With this he still showed no signs of waking up. He did show small signs of hope. He was responding to stimuli which made everyone hopeful.

It was on Mark's watch when he saw his friend slowly wake up. Mark was filming a documentary of his friend, filming everything his friend was going through, when he saw that his body was moving in the bed.

Immediately putting the camera down, he rushed to his friend's side. "Hey buddy," Mark said gently to his friend, grabbing his friend's hand letting him know he was there. Roger, still groggy from his four and half week coma, Mark gently pressed on his shoulder, realizing that he would probably be confused and agitated. "It's okay. It is me, Mark. I'm right here."

"Mark?" Roger asked his voice weak and dry. "Where's Mimi? I thought she was here. I heard her."

"She's not here, but she was. She's here every chance she gets." Mark said smiling at the news that he could hear what was going on. \

"Where is she now?" he asked.

"At home, getting some rest and to take a shower. She needed it." Mark told him as Roger took a deep breath and began to looking around. "What's the matter? Do you need me to get a nurse?"

"Yeah, that… that might be a good idea." Roger said, weakly rubbing his eyes gently. "Can you turn on the lights on your way out? It's way too dark in here." Upon hearing that, Mark froze and looked confused at his friend

''Roger, it's 3 in the afternoon. It's already bright in here. Can… can you see me?" Mark asked waving his hand in front of his roommates face. When he didn't get a response, his face went pale. "Oh god..." he whispered to himself.

"Stop messin' around, man. It's pitch black in here." Roger said turning his head, trying to find the window. His eyes didn't seem affected by the sunlight. "God, what's happening to me?" He was looking scared as Mark frantically waved down at nurse from the room. "Where's Mimi? Why can't I see?!"

Mark looked as scared as Roger did when he realized what was going on. "I'll be right back, Roger. Don't go anywhere." he said grabbing onto Roger's hand for comfort. "I need to find a doctor. I'll be right back."

''What? Wait, Mark. Don´t leave me alone!'' Roger barked, but ignoring his friend pleas, Mark rushed out of the room frantically searching for a doctor on the floor.

"What's the matter, Pookie?" Maureen asked as she came off of the elevator. She saw the look on Mark's face and knew something was wrong. Joanne was a few feet behind her.

"It's Roger." Mark said trying to keep his voice steady. "Something's wrong with him."

"What happened?" Maureen said covering her mouth with her hand.

"What's going on? Is he wake?" Joanne asked her eyes wide with worry.

"Yeah, he's... he's awake, but he...he can't see."

"What? And you left him alone?" Maureen blurted out before rushing to Roger's room.

"Call Mimi. Tell her to come quick." Joanne nodded before following Maureen to Roger's room.

"Who's there? Leave me alone. I… I don't know what you want from me.'' Roger cried suddenly, totally in panic.

''Roger honey, no one gonna hurt you. It's Maureen and Joanne." Maureen took his hand as she try to calm him.

"Mark went to get a doctor, you need to calm down. Everything is gonna be OK." Joanne said as Mark came back with Dr. Stevens.

"Welcome back, Mr. Davis. We've been waiting a long time for you to wake up. Now, can you tell me what's the matter?" Dr. Stevens asked calmly

''I… I can't see anything. Why can't I see anything?" Roger asked, trying to look in the direction of where the voice was coming from.

"That's what I'm here to find out. Let me take a look in your eyes and see what I can figure out." the doctor pointed her penlight into his eyes. She explained to him where he was and why he was in the hospital. She decided to do another CT Scan to see if would show what was causing his sudden blindness, but they all came back negative again.

 **_/_**

A short time later, Mimi and Collins arrived at the hospital. Just in time to see the nurse wheeling a sedated Roger back into his room. "What's going on? Where are you taking him?" the ex-dancer asked demanding to know what happened. Upon entering Roger's room, Mark, Maureen and Joanne were there and explained about Roger's sudden blindness.

"No. No, this has to be a mistake. Why him?" the 20-year old sniffed

"I don't know, Meems. He's gonna need us." the filmmaker told her.

"He's our friend, Mark. Of course we'll be here for him." Collins told him as Maureen and Joanne nodded.

"I want to stay with him." Mimi sniffed again.

"Of course you do, sweetie. We're all here for him. For both of you. You're not alone." Maureen smiled as the group made the way back to Roger's room.

_/_

Later that night, Roger woke up from his sedation. He opened his eyes and looked around before remembering what happened earlier in the day. When he still found himself in the darkness, he realized it wasn't a dream. He shut his eyes tight, holding back the tears that were welling up in his eyes. Before he knew it, there were two delicate hands hold his and someone climb in the bed with him. It was Mimi, apparently, due to Roger's conditions and state of mind, he needed someone constantly with him and therefore, Mimi stayed vigil over the man she loved.

"It's okay, Baby. It's okay, I'm here with you and I'm not going anywhere. I'm gonna take care of you." she said, how could she turn her back at him after everything he's been to her.

"Mimi." he sighed reaching out his hand in her direction. Mimi took his hand in hers and kissed his fingers before bringing it to her soft cheek. "I'm scared, Mimi." he cried. "I don't want to be like this. I don't want to be a burden to you, when reason said I should've died three years ago."

"Don't say that, Roger. Everything is gonna be fine. I will not let anything happen to you." Mimi held back her own tears. "I'm scared too, Baby. But we have our friends to help us overcome any obstacles that come our way. We're gonna be OK." Mimi tried to be strong for him, but with a nod from him, they ended up crying themselves to sleep in each other arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**just a spoiler before start, Benny is a villain in the movie, so in this fanfic he continues to be one. And the Evita mentioned, its his dog who died.**

* * *

 **His Eyes Part 3**

A month had passed and Rodger finally was able to return home. But sadly he wouldn't get to see his home. Wouldn't see another sunrise, he friends or his better half ever again. Mimi and Tom helped Rodger into his house but immediately Rodger could smell the house. He could feel the floor and furniture beneath him as he walked and sat down. However, he only wished he could see what his home looked like.

Rodger was also in a depressed mood over the news in which Dr. Stevens mentioned he had no idea what caused his blindness. Rodger went through the options he had in mind between his HIV virus and or diabetes, but nothing seem to help him any better on getting his eye sight back.

" focus on Rodger." Mark said as he zoomed his camera for a close up of his friend. Rodger was upset that Mark wanted to do a documentary on him while he suffered through this and did not want to cooperate. "Rodger," Mark narrated as Rodger turned his head in the direction of his friend's voice. Clearly annoyed of the insistence. "You've been home for a few days now. Tell us, How are feeling to be back at home?"

"Leave me alone Mark." Rodger said his voice bitter with annoyance

"Come on buddy," Mark gently pressed. "We want to hear your own words."

"Mark, you need to knock this thing off." Tom scolded making Mark turn off his camera. "It's nice that he's back home." He added gently patting Rodger's shoulder.

"Yeah." Rodger said his voice lacking enthusiasm. "It's great that I'm not able to navigate around my own house." He sighed heavily and stood up. Instantly Rodger felt Mimi's soft hands on his forearm.

"Where do you want to go, baby?" She asked her voice wanting to help him so much.

"I'm tired." Rodger said his voice low but not angry. "I would like to head to bed."

"But you just got up a couple of hours ago." Mimi said her voice struggling to hide her worry. "How about we have some ice-cream instead?"

"Mimi, I want to go to bed. I'm tired." Rodger's voice had a slight anger in it that caused everyone in the room to remain silent.

"Let me help you then." Mimi said and she half lead him to the bedroom much to Rodger's disappointment of being unable to help himself. He also felt horrible for putting Mimi through this.

_/_

Since arriving back at home, Rodger spent a lot of his time in his room. He was in a dark depression as he would wake up every night dreaming of seeing everything again but only waking up to seeing nothing but blackness.

His friends did try to make Rodger happy. They would read to him books he liked. Took him to places he would love to visit. They would buy him music he enjoyed to inspire him. But nothing seemed to work. Even when Maureen and Joanne bought him an expensive pair of dark glasses and when Tom carved him a walking stick from an old broom handle. Rodger still felt useless but did enjoy the little independence he had gotten again.

_/_

A few days later, the old group reunited in the loft for talking. For the days since Rodger woke up blind, Joanne has been talking with Rodger's boss at the bank over his conditions and to the man's dismay, his lawyer and friend didn't have great news, as since the bank wasn't prepared to receive someone visually impaired, they had to dismiss Rodger.

"I knew it" he growled angry

''well, everything can be reversed, there are many places in New York that accept employers with some kind of disability'' Joanne said ''I will be more than happy to help you find one, my only advice, is that you enrolled yourself in a rehab for newly blind first''

''great, all I need now: another six months of withdraw'' Roger whispered

''what you mean? It´s like rehab for heroine?'' Mimi asked curious

''I don´t suppose so, they just call it rehab, but I think it´s actually a school or something'' Joanne said ''I contact The NY Institute of the Blind and they do these rehabs'' she said

''thanks guys, but it will be useless, I don´t want you guys wasting time with me'' Rodger said unhappy.

''we´re not wasting time sweetie'' Mimi took his hand gently

''I think it´s worth trying, Rog'' Mark point out

''meanwhile, we´re going to help you around here, starting by…'' Maureen said going after Collins who had left his place on the table and placing the chair back on its place ''never changing an object from its place, otherwise you will fall down, just like Evita did''

''why…how you know that?'' Joanne looked at her surprise and confuse

''reading'' the other woman said with a wink

''well?'' Rodger was still unsure

''at you wouldn´t lose anything, buddy'' Tom advice and relatedly Rodger agreed to enroll himself into these new kind of rehab.

_/_

Just a week later, Rodger found himself crossing town to his first class on the blind school. Since it costs money, Joanne convinced her parents to help pay for her friend´s rehab and told Rodger he could repay once he got a new job.

It wasn´t easy, Rodger could say, trainings was hard and he was getting a bit anxious, still, with his friend always there to give him support, he felt safe and a bit confident every day. At first, Mimi was the one who accompany him every day, but as the time progressed, Joanne advised the former dancer to go back to her job at the bar, otherwise, she will lose the job, when she couldn´t, this way, it was mostly Tom Collins, Maureen or Joanne´s mother who took him to the school every day.

_/_

One night, almost six months after the hospital, Rodger and Mimi in the loft, Mark and Collins had gone dine in Joanne and Maureen´s place, letting the couple a bit alone. Since Rodger was getting now a little more independent, the couple started to think of having their own apartment and officially get married after Rodger get a new job. Aside that, he kind of start to got use to the darkness, as he was slowly getting out of his depress and didn't woke up screaming anymore.

The night in question, while Mimi cooked an improvised dinner, Roger set in his favourite armchair, examining his guitar he hadn't touch since he got out from the hospital.

"God, I'm four years old again" he said making Mimi laugh "everything seemes different, when you have to use your hands to see"

"You are doing well, love" she encouraged him, singing slowly the song he had sing to her and as she sang, he tried to finder the instrument, but the only thing he managed, was to produce a few notes from Musseta Waltz.

Still laughing, Mimi set on his lap and took of his glasses. Rodger's eyes were exactly the same was the day they had met, a pair of sad green eyes, the only difference is that now they were staring at nowhere. And without saying a word, Rodger reach his hand and touch her face, smiling.

"You look beautiful" he said, touching every inch of her face

"Thanks" she said jocking "now come on, dinner is served" Mimi announced leading him toward the table.

It was a smooth dinner, Roger was training using silverware and Mimi was tying everything to help him, meanwhile, they discuss the plans for a wedding and how and when they would tell their friends about it.

"So, why you said you are turning into a four year old?" Mimi asked and Roger laugh

" Well, I'm going to start Braille next week, so Collins give me a Doctor Seuss book in Braille, so i can practice" he said

"Aww, i love Dr. Seuss, read me when we finish the dinner?" Mimi asked

" Sure" Roger agreed and they change the subject.

_/_

Two days later, Roger and Mark were walking back to the loft after another day at the NY Institute for the Blind and to Mark's relief his best friend were getting confident with his cane, almost never bumping in anything.

"Congratulations Rog" Mark cheer his friend as Roger dodged from a trash can

"Thanks"

"Soon enough i bet you will be able to walk around town by yourself and ... What the hell?" Mark exclaimed, stopping on his track

"What?" Roger got worried

" Benny's car is parked in front of the loft" Mark said " sorry for startling you"

"This can't be good" Roger growled and taking Marks arm, he let his friend lead the way.

As the two men arrived inside their home, Benny was there, together with another man and a old woman

"Hello Mark" Benny greet his former roommate "Roger, you look good"

"Benny, what the hell is happening? Who are these people?"

" Came to visit and i have a surprise for you Roger"

"I'm blind, everything its a surprise to me, no all good, i must say" he snapped, when the older woman approach him

"Aren't you recognize my voice, son?" She said and Roger felt like faint, as he heard the unforgettable voice of his mother **.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Last Chapter, thanks for reading.**

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 **HIS EYES - Part 4**

The room fell silent as Roger instinctively reached his hand up to touch his mother's face. When she took a step back, visibly uncomfortable, it shook Roger back to reality.

"What the hell are you doing here? " Roger asked angrily.

"We came for a visit. When your friend called and told us what happened, we wanted to come and make sure you were doing OK." Roger's half-brother Frederick said.

"Gee thanks. Where's Harold?" he asked with bitterness dripping as the words fell from his mouth.

"He died three months ago. Liver cancer." Mrs. Elgort said.

"That's the best news I've heard all day." the blind man smirked, knowing it would hurt his visitors.

"So Benny, how did you get in touch with Roger's family. We tried for months with no luck." Mark asked trying to keep the situation steady.

"Mrs. Elgort's deceased husband was a friend of my investor... "

"You mean your father in law?" Mark interrupted.

"My investors heard what happened to Roger and ask me to bring his mother here, in order to convince him to go home. Mimi." he nodded as the dancer entered carrying a bag of groceries.

"What's going on?" the dancer got confused and took a step next to her boyfriend.

"Mimi. I'd like you to meet Roger's mother, Mrs. Elgort and his half brother Frederick. Guys, this is Roger's girlfriend, MImi." Mark introduced them.

"Fiance and don't worry Baby, they were just leaving." Roger said angry.

"Yes, we are. Frederick, help your brother with his things so we could get on the road." the old woman agreed.

" Wait, what?" Roger exclaimed, taken by surprise.

"This is no place for you honey. You need constant care. You can get that at home."

"We should have done this a long time ago. These people are a bad influence on you." Frederick added.

"Are you nuts? I'm not going anywhere. These people are my family a hell of a lot more than you two are. This is my home. I'm not going anywhere." Roger snapped at them.

"Roger Honey, please. I'm worry about you. You need to come home so I can take care of you." the mother said.

"Since when? You haven't taken care of me since dad died. If you had, you would have come when I got sick In the first place. Why are you so interested now?"

" You ran away from home. You didn't want anything to do with us. I couldn't force you to want to be a part of this family."

"I couldn't stand been beaten everyday by that bastard and you doing nothing about it." Roger cried.

"Don't call my father a bastard." Frederick point a finger to Roger.

"What are you gonna do, Freddie? Hit a blind man. Shit, I could probably take you anyway, you whiny little mama's boy." Roger taunted his younger half brother, knowing he hit a sore spot.

"Maybe you two should leave." Mark looked over at them, trying to defuse the situation.

"Let's go, mom." Frederick said, glaring at his older brother, who couldn't see the look on his face, but could most likely sense it.

"Why don't you come with us and we can discuss all of this in private? You're in no position to decide what's best for you. You've been through a harrowing ordeal and you aren't thinking straight. We can take care of you better. We're your family and we have ways of getting you to come home with us." the old woman said, looking up at her son.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. I want you to leave now." he sneered at them.

"You haven't heard the last from us. We'll be in touch." she threatened as she turned on her heel and left the loft, her younger son in tow. Neither one of them looked at anyone as they exited.

Once Roger's family left, Mimi looked shocked at Benny. "What the hell? Why would you bring them here?" she asked looking up at him.

It's why he paid my hospital bills." Roger looked in her direction. "He knew it was a way to humiliated me. Well, congratulations, asshole. You did it."

"It wasn't like that, Roger. I was as shocked as you when she called me looking to see you. I know your history, but she was sincere." Benny said without facing Roger "I paid the bills because you're my friend and I was worry about you. There was no ulterior motive behind it. You have to believe me."

"How can we believe you after everything you did to us? You don't exactly have a great track record." Mimi said looking up at him as she stood by Roger's side.

"I get that, but you have to believe that I did it out of friendship." Benny insisted. "But as a friend, I agree with them. This place isn't suited for you, Roger. Not in your condition. It's dangerous for someone who can't see." the black man said, avoiding looking at Roger "If they want to go court to have you deemed incompetent to decide for yourself, in order to take you away, they have my full support. I'm sorry, but this is no place for someone with a handicap." Benny told him and before anyone could say anything, he left.

"Can someone tell me what just happened?" Mimi asked still confused .

"I wish i know Mimi" Mark said looking at his friend.

"Benny just figured out another way to screw me." Roger said, making his way to the couch.

After the visit from his family, Roger shut down emotionally. He thought about what his mother said and it brought up all the feelings he thought were behind him. Feeling like an invalid.

_/_

For the next couple of days, he stayed in his bed refusing to do anything. He wouldn't talk to anyone and he had stopped taking his medicines. He didn't check his blood sugar, which worried his friends because of the danger of him falling into a diabetic coma. He slept most of the time and refused to go back to the Institute.

"I don't know what to do anymore." Mimi said as everyone sat in the loft. Roger was as usual sleeping, and they had gathered to try to figure out how to help him. "He's gonna put himself back in the hospital if he keeps this up." she cried as Collins wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug.

"His mother would really go to court to make him go home? He's a 35-year old man." Collins asked confused.

"That's what she said." Mark nodded.

"And there's nothing we can do?" Mimi asked looking over Joanne. The resident lawyer.

"Unfortunately, no. Given the way he's acting, if Mrs. Davis… um, Elgort has just cause to summon the court to deem him mentally incompetent to care for himself and his own needs. Between not taking his HIV meds or maintaining his diabetes, the judge will have no choice but to allow her to take him home and care for him. She has the means to administer round the clock to make sure he's cared for. It doesn't help that you guys live in a neighborhood that is not exactly safe for a blind person." she explained as everyone hung on her every word.

"This is insane." Mark told her, outraged. "There's thousands of blind people living in the city. Some are living alone. How could the judge single out one person?"

"Because of who his mother is. She has the money and the prestige to sway the court to vote in her favor." the lawyer told them, as they shook their heads.

"Is there anything we can do to stop them from taking Roger away?" Maureen asked, looking over at her girlfriend.

"I don't know, Maureen." Joanne said. Her voice was quiet.

"I'm not giving up. They are not getting my Roger. I'll take him away if I have to. They'll never find him." Mimi looked over at her friends, with tears stinging her eyes.

"It won't come down to that, Mimi." Joanne looked over at her.

"Well, I don't know what else to do." she told her, sweeping the stray tear that had fallen from her eye.

"Just be there for him like we always have." Mark nodded sadly.

_/_

A few days later and Roger's mood hasn't changed, especially after Benny's call telling them that Roger's mother and brother have decided to petition the court to force him to go home.

The next day, Mimi needed to go out for groceries and Mark had gone out to film the start of another documentary. He was completely alone, in the dark.

"How do you just leave a blind man alone in the house? Who does that?" he asked himself as he sat up in his bed. "Maybe I should go home. Couldn't be any worse." he thought as he got up, stretching his arms, he walk toward the nearby window, feeling his way around. He opening it and immediately felt the cold New York breeze on his face. He thought for a second. "How easy would it be for him to just lose his balance and fall out? No one would care. They wouldn't have to worry about taking care of him anymore." leaning on the window sill, he shoved the thought away. He felt bad about thinking that way. Mimi would surely find his body on the sidewalk and he couldn't put her through that. Not after he's already put her through enough.

"What are you doing, honey? " a voice feminine called behind him.

"Who's there?" he asked when a strong hand took his own and help him away from the window.

"You don't recognize my voice? I'm hurt." the voice teased.

"Um… Angel? Is that you?" Roger asked as his whole body trembled.

"That's right, honey. It's me." she smiled over at the large man."Why don't we get you away from that window. It can be dangerous if you can't see where you're going." she said, leading him back away from the open window.

"Am I dead?" Roger asked as he sat down on the couch.

"No, honey, you're not. And I'm trying to keep it that way." said the drag queen with a small smile. "Do you mind telling me what you were thinking when you were leaning out that window?" she asked as Roger began crying.

"I don't know, Angel. I just… I thought I could be strong enough to face this. To being blind, but I'm not. I feel like a burden on everyone. I'm a dead man anyway. HIV, diabetes, blindness. What's the use? I'm in the dark and I can't even defend myself, so I was thinking that it would be better for everyone if I was just gone. Then they wouldn't have to worry about me anymore."

"How could you think that taking the easy way out would help everyone else?" Angel asked, growing angry. "Honey you can't do that to Mimi and everyone else."

"Mimi's better off without me. She doesn't need to be married to someone as damaged as me. She'll be taking care of me for the rest of her life and I don't want that for her." Roger growled. "And there's no way in hell I'm gonna go back to living with my mother and brother. She couldn't take care of me when it was her job, can you imagine how it'll be now that I'm defenseless and and invalid? " he explained as Angel took his hands in hers.

"That girl loves you more than you can imagine. You may be in the dark, but she's your light. You have to be here for her. You need to be there for her just as much as she's there for you. You don't need to worry about those evil people coming your way. Your family is right here and they will protect you. Just don't take the easy way out. Things will work out. You just have to have faith." she told him before disappearing as quickly as she appeared. Roger looked around and took a deep breath. He felt better than he had felt in a long time. At peace for the first time since he woke up in the dark.

An hour later, Mimi came back to the loft and to her surprise, Roger was sitting on the couch. She looked over at him, confused.

"Is... everything ok, sweetie?" Mimi asked cautiously.

"Baby, I'm so sorry about the way I've been acting. I know I've been an asshole to you lately and for that, I'm sorry." he said out of nowhere. She put the groceries down and sat next to him.

"Roger, what happened? What's this all about?"

"I should tell you... I love you and I'm sorry if I haven't showed it as of late. You're my light in all this darkness." he said kissing her. "I never should have taken you for granted. I'll never make that mistake again."

"Good to know, mi amore" the girl couldn't help but giggle. She didn't know where this was coming from, but she was glad he snapped out of his depression. "I've been so worried about you."

"With good reason. I've been having some dark thoughts lately, but I'm OK now. I'm not gonna leave you. You're my rock, Baby. And if you'll still have me, I wanna spend the rest of my life with us taking care of each other."

"That's all I want too." Mimi smiled and they kissed each other.

He didn't mention his encounter with Angel, mainly out of fear that she would think he was crazy. But she did have a point. Taking the easy way out may be easy for him, but it wasn't fair to the rest of them. His real family and the love of his life were right there and they were ready to face any obstacle that came their way. No matter how difficult it was, they would all face it together.

 **END**


End file.
